Chapter 137

The two continued through the Temple. Both of them knew it would be large, since it seemed to be outside. Yet, inside, it seemed even larger. They explored numerous rooms They sparred for a few minutes in one of the training arenas and even looked into a few quarters that Jedi used to live in. However, when they saw that one of the rooms still had personal objects laid out by its previous occupant, they felt as if they had stumbled into an intimate setting and decided to only explore rooms that they knew were used by various Jedi.

They found the cafeteria where many would take their meals, as well as a library of sorts, though most of what had been kept there was destroyed. Disks and various projectors lay on the floor, their parts scattered all over.

Not everything they found was upsetting though. When they entered one room, Ari couldn't help but gasp in amazement. The noise was loud, but fountains were still flowing. It was clear that the area had once been tenderly cared for, but it had grown wild from over two decades of neglect. That didn't stop Ari from imagining how it must have been. Luke, on the other hand, was looking at the fountains that were still flowing. Even though he had left Tatooine, he still marveled how much water some planets had.

"This is beautiful," Ari whispered and started to walk through the atrium, since it was much too large to be called a room. "Come on, Luke," she smiled and she took off running.

Luke hesitated only a moment, surprised by this, but followed and while the two of them knew they could never forget being Jedi and the losses the entire galaxy felt, they could imagine how it would be if they had grown up in the Temple.

Ari finally stopped as Luke caught up about half an hour later, breathing a bit heavily, but smiling. Luke was as well, and Ari was glad to see it. He seemed to have aged so much, it sometimes was as if she was looking at an older stranger.

"This could be beautiful again," Luke remarked, looking around the area and Ari knew he was thinking about training new Jedi.

"It could be. But, Luke, it will be awhile before we'll need such a large space. Even if some Jedi survived…." She trailed off, knowing that it was unlikely that there were any left, or that they would make themselves known, even if the war was over.

"I know, but this Temple stood for hundreds of years. Maybe not in our lifetime, but hopefully one day there will be enough Jedi to fill it the way it used to be."

Ari nodded, thoughtfully then took his hand. "We'll do it," she assured him.

Luke smiled and removed his hand from hers, since it was his artificial one. However, he wrapped his arm around her waist and they stood like that for a moment, both of them thinking about the Temple and the tasks that stood before them. They would have to find as much as they could about the Jedi as well as looking for any remaining Jedi and identify those who were Force sensitive. It would be hard to search the various worlds and convince Force sensitive beings to train with them.

"We should probably explore a bit more. It's getting late and I'm sure Leia will want to tell us about what they discussed today," Luke spoke.

"I guess so. We'll have to come back though," Ari sighed. She found briefings and speeches made while they were the Rebel Alliance very encouraging, lifting her morale. She didn't feel the same about these meetings. Beings were arguing already, which could prove dangerous. The New Republic was only days old.

"Many times," Luke assured her as they left the room.

The halls seemed eerily silent; both of them were used to the thundering of the water as it fell into the fountain pools. While they still felt the Dark Side of the Force, it wasn't as overwhelming as it had been before. Most likely, they had gotten used to the underlying sensations, instead of it diminishing in the depths of the Temple.

Finally, Luke and Ari came to what could only be the communication station. While the Jedi had not lived here, it was clear that it had been used by the Emperor. The technology was still very new and up to date. There was also no sign of dust.

"Now I wish we had brought the droids," Ari remarked. Most of the technology they had used on Tatooine was decades old, as was some of the technology the Alliance had used. She didn't know what all of it meant, but was intrigued.

She and Luke looked at everything, touching a few of the things, soon understanding what most of the controls did. Without saying it, they knew that they would have to share this with the other New Republic leaders. It could be useful. It was more permanent than what they were using now and Ari was certain it was more reliable as well.

She saw one light that seemed to glow bright and then fade, then glow bright once more. Curious, she pressed it with her index finger, waiting to see what happened.

A menus appeared in the air in front of her. It offered many options, including deleting a message, coding a message, recording a message and replaying the previous message.

Curious, she pressed the button to replay the message. The menu stayed where it was, but a hologram appeared, about one fourth of real size.

A cloaked figure was sitting in a chair, one hand on either side, resting on the arm rests.

Even though she had never seen this person before, she knew who it was. This was confirmed as Luke turned around and his eyes grew a bit larger. "Palpatine." The Sith and former Emperor, who had been killed by Anakin Skywalker was sitting there in a hologram. For a brief moment, Ari thought that perhaps he had returned, though she knew it wasn't possible. She hadn't expected to find a message here. At least, not from him.

"I expect that the items in the Horuset system are secure. If not, I shall deal with you personally, Commander." Then the image faded and there was silence.

"The Horuset system?" Luke asked while Ari mulled this over. This name sounded familiar and she tried to remember why. Then it came back to her in a flash.

"The fortress." She turned from the empty space to face Luke. "Siri mentioned it with some information she gave me. She said there was a fortress there where the Emperor kept some of his things. The valuable things."

"Like what?"

"She said that Master Yoda's lightsaber was there."

Luke nodded thoughtfully. "He must never have made another one."

"I have to go there."

Luke looked up at Ari quickly, looking surprised by this remark. "What?"

"I can't explain it, Luke. The first time I heard about it, I felt something odd. Now hearing it again, I can't help but feel like that is where I have to go."

He paused, thinking this over. "Alright. I'll talk to Leia tonight and we can leave tomorrow morning…" He trailed off as Ari shook her head.

"Luke, I have to do this alone."

"What? No. It's too-"

"Dangerous?" she interrupted. "I know. It could be dangerous. I have to do this though. Just like you had to face Vader and the Emperor."

"That is because I knew I could save my father," Luke answers.

"Luke, you have to trust me. I can't explain why I know I have to do this, I just do." A moment of silence passed between them. "It's the will of the Force."

They looked at one another, blue eyes meeting blue and Luke finally sighed. "Alright, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"It'll be fine," Ari answered, offering a smile, though she also had the same bad feeling.